So I'm a stay at home Mom with a two year old and we are stuck in the house most days by cold yucky weather. I've done Atkins in the past with success but fell off the wagon..sometimes cockiness, sometimes peer pressure and sometimes just laziness.

Now I really want to lose weight to be a better Mom, a Mom who can run around the yard and fit on rides with my kid. I also want to lose the weight so I can have one more kid.

I'm having trouble getting started though because I just can't think of anything to eat. I can look up recipes for our meals no problem but it's all the in betweens I've gotten used to that I need help with. When I'm bored or tired I eat. When I'm not on Atkins I'm always tired.

So what can I eat? What can I safely pick on or binge on to keep myself from eating all the bad stuff I really want! I also don't want to break the bank buying a ton of expensive processed products/supplements, I'm trying to keep this as close to a real whole food diet as possible.

Any suggestions?

THANKS!!!

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Dawn

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do. -Helen Keller"

"I get knocked down, but I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down!" TubThumping by Chumbawamba

Your best bet is to be prepared. ALWAYS have foods that are on plan, on hand for when you feel the need to snack. The longer you're on plan, and in Ketosis, you should find that you're having those urges less often. I spend one day a week prepping my food for the week. Grate the cheese, hard boil the eggs, roast a chicken, slice up veggies, brown up a bunch of ground beef, cook several pounds of bacon, etc.... Just have it all cooked and ready to go in the refrig so that you have no excuse for grabbing something that is off plan.

I agree, stay away from the processed and packaged foods. Keep it simple and stick with real foods.

As far as cooking for the family, you can make some meat and veggies for all of you, and a carby side dish for the rest of the family if you want to. There's no reason to make 2 separate meals.

You can do this. Just take it one day, one meal, and one choice at a time.

I always have string cheese, hard boiled eggs, and olives on hand for snacking. I even keep a few Atkins frozen meals in the freezer if I am in a pinch, though I find it's best not to eat processed food. It's also really easy to microwave some bacon.

Before this WOE, I loved chicken wings and mexican food. I can still have chicken wings! I fry up a batch, eat some and save some for later. I switch between traditional buffalo sauce and a BBQ sauce I make myself using SF ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, and splenda. For my mexican food fix, I make a taco salad with lettuce, ground beef, shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream. I make a big batch of ground beef so I have plenty of left-overs!

Something else that helps me is posting a pic of my dream body to the fridge. Kinda silly, but it helps!

Prep is key ~ I blast a chicken on Sunday, brown and crumble breakfast sausage, as well as ground beef, and I make sure that I have something really decadent at hand for those, "OMGosh, I gotta have something over the top or I swear I'm eating these cheetos days".... mine would be cheddarwurst... lot's of sodium and nitrates and plenty of calories, but microwave one of those , slice into it and after the first 2 or 3 bites you will feel your cravings slip away... just don't make them an everyday thing, LOL

keep some carnitas on hand for picking or maaking a quick egg scramble, and remember that lettuce makes a lovely substitute for tortillas. :c)

Avoid the bars and fake candies, they cause a lot of stalls, and they can make you gassy which will make you feel bloated. Avoid alcohol in all forms while on induction.

Note: These instructions are taken from Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, 2002 edition. Many experienced forum members would advise you to follow these instructions and not those from New Atkins, New You, the Quick Start Guide, or the website, as the changes seem to be too liberal in favor of selling shakes and bars. This is the induction food list as Dr Atkins wrote it himself.

Atkins Induction Acceptable Food List

All fish, fowl, shellfish, meat, and eggs

Note: Oysters and mussels are higher in carbs than other shellfish, so limit them to four ounces per day.

Note: Processed meats, such as ham, bacon, pepperoni, salami, hot dogs and other luncheon meats—and some fish—may be cured with added sugar and will contribute carbs. Try to avoid meat and fish products cured with nitrates, which are known carcinogens. Also beware of products that are not exclusively meat, fish or fowl, such as imitation fish, meatloaf and breaded foods. Finally, do not consume more than four ounces of organ meats a day.

Cheese
You can consume three to four ounces daily of the following full-fat, firm, cow, sheep and goat cheese, soft and semisoft aged cheeses*, including:

*All cheeses have some carbohydrate content. The quantity you eat should be governed by that knowledge. The rule of thumb is to count 1 ounce of cheese as equivalent to 1 gram of carbohydrate. Note that cottage cheese, farmer’s cheese and other fresh cheeses are not permitted during Induction. No "diet" cheese, cheese spreads or whey cheeses are permitted. Individuals with known yeast symptoms, dairy allergy or cheese intolerance must avoid cheese. Imitation cheese products are not allowed, except for soy or rice cheese—but check the carbohydrate content.

Salad Vegetables
These salad vegetables are high in phytonutrients and provide a good source of fiber.

You can have two to three, cups per day of any combination of the following:

Other Vegetables
You can have one cup per day of these vegetables, in any combination if your salad portion does not exceed two cups. The following vegetables are slightly higher in carbohydrate content than the salad vegetables:

If a vegetable, such as spinach or tomato, cooks down significantly, it must be measured raw so as not to underestimate its carb count.

Special Category Foods
To add variety, each day you can also eat 10 to 20 olives, half a small avocado, 2 Tbsp. of sour cream, or unsweetened heavy or light cream (limit to two to three tablespoons a day; note carbohydrate content), as well as two to three tablespoons of lemon juice or lime juice. But be aware that these foods occasionally slow down weight loss in some people, and may need to be avoided in the first two weeks. If you seem to be losing slowly, moderate your intake of these foods.

Herbs and Spices
Use all herbs and spices to taste, but make sure that spice blends contain no added sugar.

For salad dressing, use oil and vinegar (but not balsamic vinegar, which contains sugar) or lemon juice and herbs and spices. Prepared salad dressings without added sugar and no more than two carbs per serving are also fine.

Acceptable Fats and Oils
Many fats, especially certain oils, are essential to good nutrition. Olive oil is particularly valuable. All other vegetable oils are allowed, the best being canola, walnut, soybean, grapeseed, sesame, sunflower and safflower oils, especially if they are labeled "cold-pressed" or "expeller-pressed." Do not cook polyunsaturated oils, such as corn, soybean and sunflower oil, at high temperatures or allow to brown or smoke.

Use butter. Margarine should be avoided, not because of its carbohydrate content, but because it is usually made of trans fats (hydrogenated oils), which are a serious health hazard. (Some nonhydrogenated margarines are available in health-food stores.)

You don't have to remove the skin and fat from meat or fowl. Salmon and other cold-water fish are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Remember that trying to do a low-fat version of the Atkins Nutritional ApproachTM will interfere with fat burning and derail your weight loss.

Artificial Sweeteners
You must determine which artificial sweeteners agree with you, but the following are allowed: sucralose (marketed as Splenda™), saccharin, cyclamate and acesulfame-K. Natural sweeteners ending in the suffix "-ose," such as maltose, fructose, etc., should be avoided. However, certain sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, do not affect blood sugar and are acceptable.

Saccharin has been extensively studied, and harmful effects were produced in the lab when fed to rats only in extremely high doses. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed saccharin from its list of carcinogens, basing its decision upon a thorough review of the medical literature and the National Institute of Science’s statement that there is "no clear association between saccharin and human cancer." It can be safely consumed in moderation, meaning no more than three packets a day. Saccharin is marketed as Sweet'n Low™.

The Atkins preference, however, is sucralose (Splenda™), the only sweetener made from sugar. Sucralose is safe, noncaloric and does not raise blood sugar. It has been used in Canada for years, and the FDA recently approved it after reviewing more than 100 studies conducted over the past 20 years. Note that each packet of sugar substitute contains about 1 gram of carbohydrate, so don’t forget to include the amount in your daily totals.

Acceptable Beverages
Be sure to drink a minimum of eight eight-ounce glasses of water each day, including: filtered water, mineral water, spring water, and tap water

Additionally, you can have the following:

Clear broth/bouillon (not all brands; read the label)
Club soda
Decaffeinated coffee or tea*
Diet soda made with sucralose (Splenda™); be sure to count the carbs
Essence-flavored seltzer (must say "no calories")
Herb tea (without barley or any fruit sugar added)
Lemon juice or lime juice (note that each contains 1.4 grams carbohydrate per Tablespoon); limit to two to three tablespoons

*Excessive caffeine may cause unstable blood sugar and should be avoided by those who suspect they are caffeine dependent. Everyone should try to avoid caffeine. Grain beverages (coffee substitutes) are not allowed. Alcoholic beverages are also not permitted during Induction; those low in carbohydrates are an option, in moderation, in later phases.

Convenience Foods
Although it is important that you eat primarily unprocessed foods, some controlled carb food products can come in handy when you are unable to find appropriate food, can’t take time for a meal or need a quick snack. More and more companies are creating healthy food products that can be eaten during the Induction phase of Atkins. Just remember two things:

Not all convenience food products are the same, so check labels and carbohydrate content.

While any of these foods can make doing Atkins easier, don’t overdo it. Remember, you must always follow The Rules of Induction.

Hey Cheeky!
Good luck! it can be difficult to find things to snack on with very little prep.
some of my faves are hard boiled eggs, avocado, tinned tuna or i make a philly cheese dip to last me a few days and have celery, capsicum and baby cucumbers to dip in it (yum!)

Planning is the hardest thing for me too. I keep deviled eggs and cream cheese muffins on hand in the fridge for snack attacks. My deviled eggs are tasty and are the perfect filler between meals. I usually have one or two of my cream cheese muffins for an after dinner snack. Yum!

Best of luck to you.

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"Life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?" -Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.

Thanks for all the tips! Now that I've fully started and done a grocery shopping I'm a little more prepared. It's slowly coming back to me what I used to eat the last time I did this and I think my next couple grocery trips will get better and better

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Dawn

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do. -Helen Keller"

"I get knocked down, but I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down!" TubThumping by Chumbawamba

I too am a stay at home mommy with a 2 yo son. I feel you!!!!! I was super successful on Atkins before and quit for the same reasons as you!!!!! I read your post and was like "finally!!!! someone like me!!!" lol pm me if you'd like to chat! I have problems with dinners. I have 3 older kids at home and a bf who hates veggies and loves potatoes and gravy! so i usually end up falling off the wagon because it's just to hard or too expensive to plan a dinner for them and one for me!

I'm determined to be near my goal weight by August 12th. My bf and I are going to see Motley Crue and I will not be a hot sweaty blob!!!!!!

I know what you mean, LOL, my goal is 30 lbs by June because I am finally going to Europe and I hate the thought of being stuffed into an airline seat for 10 hours while carrying this much weight......... (40 would be better, because I am definitely going off plan in moderation while I am there, hehehe)

Nimuae, I love the idea of making meatballs ahead of time, care to share your recipes? I have 2 planned cheat days, one being my birthday in August, but it's 4 days before the concert so I'm hoping to be at goal by then!! I'm making come crock pot chicken soup today to freeze for quick lunches and dinners. I'm trying so hard to stick to an exercise plan but my bf has been home sick from work for 3 days and he's throwing off my routine! he's been hanging out on the couch in the living room where i do my dvd's , so today he's banished to the bedroom while the baby (toddler, lol) naps because i feel like if i don't get back to it today, i won't do it at all!!!!!Wish me luck!

My meatballs are pretty basic. I use ground turkey and mix in a pkg of taco seasoning for my Fiesta balls, ground beef seasoned with salt, pepper and crumbled bleu cheese for my Black and Blue balls, ground beef salt, pepper and bacon for my Bacon Cheeseburger balls.
Once you have your ingredients mixed, scoop up enough for about a 2 inch meatball, flatten it out and put a cube of cheese in the middle, then form the meat mixture around it. Bacon cheese burger also gets some crumbled pre-cooked bacon in with the cheese center.
Then line them up on a baking rack over a cookie sheet, or on the cookie sheet itself if you don't have a rack and slide into a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. This may leave them a little bit rare, but that is my preference becuase I bag them all to be reheated in the micro whenever I want a snack or meal and if you cook until completely done, (about 20 min), they dry out when you reheat. Bonus ~ If you have friends stop by unexpextedly, you have Hors d'oeuvres on hand, LOL

This week I am experimenting with ground pork, ginger, scallions and sesame oil to come up with an Asian meatball, I will let you know how they come out. Really, you are limited only by your imagination on these, LOL

My meatballs are pretty basic. I use ground turkey and mix in a pkg of taco seasoning for my Fiesta balls, ground beef seasoned with salt, pepper and crumbled bleu cheese for my Black and Blue balls, ground beef salt, pepper and bacon for my Bacon Cheeseburger balls.
Once you have your ingredients mixed, scoop up enough for about a 2 inch meatball, flatten it out and put a cube of cheese in the middle, then form the meat mixture around it. Bacon cheese burger also gets some crumbled pre-cooked bacon in with the cheese center.
Then line them up on a baking rack over a cookie sheet, or on the cookie sheet itself if you don't have a rack and slide into a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. This may leave them a little bit rare, but that is my preference becuase I bag them all to be reheated in the micro whenever I want a snack or meal and if you cook until completely done, (about 20 min), they dry out when you reheat. Bonus ~ If you have friends stop by unexpextedly, you have Hors d'oeuvres on hand, LOL

This week I am experimenting with ground pork, ginger, scallions and sesame oil to come up with an Asian meatball, I will let you know how they come out. Really, you are limited only by your imagination on these, LOL

All of those sound super, Nimuae!!! I am going to start getting more creative with meatballs!

LOL, Sundays have turned into my meatball day ~ And everyone knows that if they are there, they will be pressed into service. It does make it easier to put everything together at the beginning of the week.... no extra thought or steps the rest of the week, and I have plenty of variety to avoid boredom

My favorite "go to"/save me from myself snack are pickle dogs (pickle wraps? Pickle in a blanket?). Yeah, a little trashy I know but here in Minnesota it isn't a party without them. Instead of ham, I use the good pastrami from the deli. I also find that Clausen spears are the best and using the cream cheese that comes in blocks versus tubs makes for cutting a "strip" of cream cheese instead of trying to spread it on to a wet pickle They are very satisfying and a whole "dog" is 2 carbs. You can cut it into slices and really feel like you are getting some bang for your carby buck :-)

So far so good, 3 weeks and I've lost 11lbs. I knew sticking to induction would be too hard after two years of eating very high carb, so I figured I'd start backwards. I started at 60 carbs a day and then I was going to try to lower it each week. However, I've found 60 carbs is working great for me and it's a lot easier to stick to since I can have some carbier things. I've had a few Birthdays mess me up already food wise but I've stayed strong on refusing the sweets! I just try to be much lower the next day and it seems to be averaging out. I probably would have lost 20lbs by now if I hadn't made those mistakes, but this isn't a race and the only way this is going to become a permanent lifestyle for me is if it's flexible.

Pepperoni has been a life saver for grazing/picking
Deli ham has been on sale too so I've been stocking up and eating it with Mission Carb Balance tortillas or just wrapped around a pickle.
Hot wings Mmmmmm so glad I can eat those so hubs can have his weekly pizza friday or if we go out to eat and it's all carbs, I'm fine with a hot wing appetizer and a small garden salad
I have also been buying shakes and frozen Atkins meals for emergencies or when we're on the go. I'm not a big egg eater so I find the shakes are great for breakfast, I get the ones made with coffee so it's breakfast and a morning joe at the same time
Dinner I've found I didn't have to change that much, I just skip the starch and double the veg. Although a grocery store rotisserie chicken has saved my butt once or twice instead of just getting high carb pizza or chinese food when I can't cook!
Plus I did buy a few sugar free sweets for emergencies, the side effects keep me in check with those things haha

Nimuae, I gotta try those meatballs that sounds like a good idea! How did the asian ones turn out? I imagine they taste like the meat inside of a wonton? Oh how awesome that would be if they did! I do love me some chinese food LOL

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______________________________
Dawn

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do. -Helen Keller"

"I get knocked down, but I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down!" TubThumping by Chumbawamba

Cheeky, Good for you! You've already learned what it takes many of us a long time to learn.... this isn't a race, it's about a lifetime change. You've found ways to make this work for you and fit it into to your lifestyle. Good for you for making great decisions one choice at a time!

Nimuae, I gotta try those meatballs that sounds like a good idea! How did the asian ones turn out? I imagine they taste like the meat inside of a wonton? Oh how awesome that would be if they did! I do love me some chinese food LOL

Wow, it sounds like you are really working it and good for you for thinking outside the box! You are doing a great job of making it work for you, and that is what counts. Those Asian meatballs came out really good, and yep, they taste a lot like the inside of a dimsum. In fact, that is waht I should name them "Dim Sum Tasty Meatballs", LOLOLOLOL

Ooooooohhh Nimuae! I already did shopping this week but I am for sure going to make the dim sum tasty meatballs next week!!!! I see the list of what all you were going to use but I'd love the recipe

I have had pepperoni chips but I haven't loved the microwaved ones. Might have to try them deep fried though, see how that turns out...and the look of confusion when I tell my hubs I need him to deep fry me some pepperoni for my diet LOL!!!

And Thanks MtherGoos! I'm inspired and strengthened when I see people with stats like you have on this board! It's only taken me a couple tries and ten years but I think I've finally got it figured out but I still have to be vigilant because thinking I've got it beat has gotten me in trouble in the past!

Emma, That sounds so yummy!!!!!!!!! Cheeky , I'm at 30 carbs and it works great for me. Pepperoni is my go to snack food too. Tax return is here so i'll be placing my big netrition order. This time around I'm well aware of what my triggers are and I'm trying to avoid them like the plague. Bf wants to go to the movies on Friday and I want to go but I'm dreading the smell of popcorn ( a fav of mine) I'm just sooooooo committed to losing this time I'm sure I'll be ok. i told him I'd go if he bought me dinner first. I plan on filling up on steak and salad beforehand so I'm not so tempted!!!!

AddysMommy, I would fry up some pepperoni, and maybe even make some cheese crackers and take those to the movies with you too. If you find the smell of the popcorn is getting to you, pull out your own low carb snacks.